so well rendered by contemporary engravers as he. The best engraver of the Rubens school was Schelte à Bolswert; but Paul Pontius, Vorstermans, and de Jode have also done excellent work.

Leaving the Dutch and German schools, and turning to the France of two hundred and fifty years ago, we find Louis XIV on the throne, and Corneille, Racine, La Fontaine, and Molière adorning literature with their splendid works, and we also find a school of engravers who may well claim fellowship in genius with those immortal

names.

These eminent artists chiefly excelled in the delineation of the human face; never before nor since have such portraits been produced. They are embellished with all the resources of the art. Many of those prints represent personages who then filled a large place in the eyes of the world, but whose names are now only remembered in connection with their portraits; but we have also preserved to us the lineaments of men such as La Fontaine, Colbert, and Bossuet, whose places in the Temple of Fame are assured. Art at this period was elaborate and florid, as were literature, manners, and dress, and those engravers, to whom no technical difficulty was an obstacle, reveled in the reproduction of costumes and accessories. The personage represented is usually resplendent with all the bravery of fur, lace, brocade, and velvet, while all the surroundings are rich and gorgeous.

Of these engravers, Gérard Edelinck deserves

so well rendered by contemporary engravers as he. The best engraver of the Rubens school was Schelte à Bolswert; but Paul Pontius, Vorstermans, and de Jode have also done excellent work.

Leaving the Dutch and German schools, and turning to the France of two hundred and fifty years ago, we find Louis XIV on the throne, and Corneille, Racine, La Fontaine, and Molière adorning literature with their splendid works, and we also find a school of engravers who may well claim fellowship in genius with those immortal

names.

These eminent artists chiefly excelled in the delineation of the human face; never before nor since have such portraits been produced. They are embellished with all the resources of the art. Many of those prints represent personages who then filled a large place in the eyes of the world, but whose names are now only remembered in connection with their portraits; but we have also preserved to us the lineaments of men such as La Fontaine, Colbert, and Bossuet, whose places in the Temple of Fame are assured. Art at this period was elaborate and florid, as were literature, manners, and dress, and those engravers, to whom no technical difficulty was an obstacle, reveled in the reproduction of costumes and accessories. The personage represented is usually resplendent with all the bravery of fur, lace, brocade, and velvet, while all the surroundings are rich and gorgeous.

Of these engravers, Gérard Edelinck deserves

a high place. Born at Antwerp in 1627, he was, while yet a young man, invited to Paris by Colbert, the great minister, who did so much to encourage art, and during the remainder of a life prolonged to eighty years he was identified with the French school. Edelinck was taken into the King's service, had a pension settled on him, and later he received a patent of nobility. Of his numerous portraits, that of Philippe de Champaigne is allowed to be the finest; but there are others of great merit, such as that of his patron Colbert, Van den Baugart the sculptor, the architect Mansard, Pierre de Montarsis, and Dilgerus. Edelinck did not confine himself, however, to portraits. His print of the "Fight for the Standard," after the celebrated cartoon of Leonardo da Vinci, may be taken as a model of bold and vigorous work, while his "Moses," after Philippe de Champaigne, is full of serene beauty. This latter was engraved in conjunction with Nanteuil, an engraver who well deserves to rank with the best.

During the forty-eight years of Nanteuil's life he executed as many as 280 plates, nearly all portraits, and most of them from his own drawings from life. Nanteuil's abilities were refined by a classical education, and his correct taste restrained him from running into the prevailing fashion of meretricious ornamentation. He usually represented his personages within a neat oval of about seven by nine inches. His works illustrate the reign of Louis XIV, and are all,